Digital cell

ABSTRACT

A digital cell for performing a logic operation on a logic input to produce a logic output, includes an evaluation block and a sense-amplifier block, both configured to receive input signals representative of the logic input, and to detect when the logic input and/or input signals validly encode at least one bit. The digital cell is configured to alternate between an evaluate state and a reset state. Upon the digital cell being in the reset state and the detection, the digital cell is switched from the reset state to the evaluate state in which the evaluation block generates a difference in its output signals, and the sense-amplifier block amplifies the difference so that the output signals encode at least one valid bit. Upon the digital cell being in the evaluate state, the digital cell can be triggered to reset to the reset state.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a digital cell for performing a logicoperation and a pipeline comprising at least one such digital cell.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There is a continuing need for digital circuits and systems which arehigh-speed, robust (i.e. error-free under all possible operatingconditions regardless of the fabrication process used and variationsthereof), and have low power dissipation. In recent years, this need hasbecome stronger due to the increasing demand for portable electronicdevices to have longer battery lives, increasedfunctionality/intelligence within a given power budget, and operationalrobustness/accuracy. Examples of such portable electronic devicesinclude cellular phones, notebooks, audio players, smart cards, networksensors, bio-medical devices, security and military devices, etc.

The EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) of electronic devices is also animportant design issue. Virtually all electronic devices have to meetcertain electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) standards before they can bemarketed. Furthermore, some security and military applications, forexample cryptography applications, require ultra low ElectromagneticInterference (EMI) as EMI is one of the common information used byhackers to decipher security data present in these applications.

Therefore, digital circuits and systems having simultaneouslyoperational robustness, high-speed, low power dissipation and low EMIattributes are highly desirable in the manufacture of electronic devicesfor today's applications. However, digital circuits and systemsoperating at high speeds are switching fast and hence, their powerdissipation and EMI tend to be higher. To date, design techniquesattempting to overcome this have been developed but the performance ofthese techniques remains unsatisfactory. Such design techniques can bebroadly categorized into synchronous-logic-based techniques andasynchronous-logic-based techniques as described below.

Synchronous-Logic-Based Techniques

Since the Moore's law was conceptualized in 1965, several techniquesaiming to achieve digital circuits and systems with high speeds and lowpower dissipation have been developed based on the synchronous-logicdesign methodology in which a global clock signal (or its variants) isused to synchronize digital operations. Details of synchronous-logicdesign methodology can be found in J. M Rabaey et al. [5].

In particular, one of the key design issues in synchronous-logic designmethodology relates to achieving robust operations under the synchronousoperational modality where a pre-defined clock timing closure needs tobe strictly abided by. More specifically, each digital operation has tobe computed and ready within a clock period. To achieve a digitalcircuit or system which abides by the pre-defined clock timing closure,several clock-relevant timing assumptions under various possible processand operating conditions (generally termed asProcess-Voltage-Temperature (PVT) variations) have to be made. Thedigital circuit or system can only be robust if these timing assumptionshold.

Besides using design methods aiming to reduce switched capacitances andswitching activities at different levels (spanning from the system-leveldown to the layout- or device-layer), current techniques based on thesynchronous-logic design methodology also use transistors with smallerfeature sizes (achieved with advanced deep submicron or nano-scaledsilicon fabrication processes) as this allows the scaling down of thesupply voltages. However, it is well-known that PVT variations indigital circuits and systems tend to increase as the feature sizes oftransistors in the circuits and systems are scaled downwards. This inturn results in larger electrical variations in the digital circuits andsystems, affecting the validity of the timing assumptions.

Table I shows the possible effects of smaller transistor feature sizeson electrical variations in digital circuits. More specifically, Table Iis obtained from the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductorsin year 2011 (ITRS-2011) and tabulates possible electrical variations indigital circuits if these circuits are fabricated using current andpossible future fabrication processes. The electrical variations inTable I are expressed in terms of the variations in the processparameters (% Process Parameter Uncertainty), variations in thethreshold voltage including all sources of such variations (% V_(t)variability; all sources), variations in the circuit performance e.g.the circuit delay (% Circuit performance variability), variations in thetotal power consumption (% Circuit total power variability) andvariations in the power leakage (% Circuit leakage power variability).As can be seen from Table I, the electrical variations in the digitalcircuits are expected to increase as the feature sizes of thetransistors in the circuits decrease (from 40 nm to 6.3 nm).

TABLE I 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 . . . 2026 Fabrication Process 40 nm 32nm 28 nm 24 nm 21nm . . . 6.3 nm % Process Parameter 11% 12% 14% 15% 18%. . . 38% Uncertainty % V_(t) variability; 42% 42% 42% 47% 47% . . . 79%all sources % Circuit performance 42% 42% 42% 45% 45% . . . 60%variability % Circuit total power 51% 51% 51% 55% 55% . . . 81%variability % Circuit leakage power 126%  126%  126%  129%  129%  . . .148%  variability

The possible effects of smaller transistor feature sizes on electricalvariations in digital circuits are further illustrated in FIGS. 1( a)and (b). In particular, FIG. 1( a) illustrates the possible soft errorrates of two digital circuit types (the inverter and the clocked latch)at nominal supply voltage if these circuit types are fabricated usingcurrent and possible future fabrication process technologies. FIG. 1( b)illustrates the possible soft error rates of the clocked latch atdifferent supply voltages V_(DD) if the clocked latch is fabricatedusing the 16 nm, 22 nm and 32 nm process technologies. Morespecifically, FIG. 1( b) shows how the soft error rates of each clockedlatch fabricated using a different technology are expected to change asthe supply voltage V_(DD) is varied within ±10%. The soft error ratesshown in FIGS. 1( a)-(b) are also obtained from the ITRS-2011.

To a certain extent, the inverter can be seen as a representative ofcombinational logic as it is present in virtually all digital circuitsand systems, whereas the clocked latch can be seen as a representativeof sequential logic as it is one of the critical building blocks forsynchronous-logic circuits and systems. From FIG. 1( a), it can be seenthat as the feature sizes of the transistors decrease, the error ratesfor both the clocked latch and the inverter are expected to increase.This can also be seen from FIG. 1( b) which shows the clocked latchfabricated with 16 nm CMOS technology having the highest predicted softerror rates for all supply voltages. FIG. 1( b) also shows thatregardless of the fabrication process technology, the error rates of theclocked latch are expected to increase as the supply voltage V_(DD)decreases.

Furthermore, FIG. 1( a) allows a comparison between the error rates ofthe clocked latch and that of the inverter. The inverter serves as agood circuit type for comparison of error rates, as it is a simpledigital circuit and hence, its error rate can be used as the lowestbound for the error rates of digital circuits. From FIG. 1( a), it canbe seen that the clocked latch has significantly more operational errorsthan the inverter. This is probably due to the clock synchronizationissues which are present in the clocked latch but not in the inverter.In particular, for the 12 nm process technology which may possibly beavailable in future, the error rate of the clocked latch can reach above10%. This can potentially cause difficulties in designing the digitalcircuit.

Robust operations can only be guaranteed if the PVT variations issuesare fully addressed. However, it is difficult to ensure this and thus,“pessimistic” design practices with large safety timing margins areusually adopted for synchronous-logic circuits and systems. Such designpractices tend to slow down the operations of the synchronous-logiccircuits and systems.

Furthermore, although under a pre-defined clock timing closure (clockskew, setup-time, hold-time, critical-path timing etc.), asynchronous-logic circuit or system could theoretically be clocked toits maximum speed, such a circuit or system is impractical. This isbecause the clock infrastructure of a synchronous-logic circuit orsystem is often “power-hungry” i.e. consumes a large amount of power andthis amount of power consumed by the clock infrastructure tends toincrease as the clock frequency increases. This in turn results in highpower dissipation, causing reliability or packaging issues. Furthermore,a synchronous-logic circuit or system clocked at a high speed tends toemit high EMI as a large amount of current is drawn virtuallysimultaneously during every clock edge. Therefore, the potential ofsynchronous-logic circuits and systems in achieving high-speed digitaloperations is limited, as reflected in how clock frequencies ofmicroprocessors have “stalled” at 1 GHz to 3 GHz for several years.

To date, design issues relating to PVT variations, speed, powerdissipation and EMI of synchronous-logic digital circuits and systemsare only in part addressed. A brief summary of techniques that have beendeveloped to address these issues is provided below.

In particular, example techniques that have been used to alleviate theimpact of PVT variations on the robustness of digital circuits andsystems include highly controlled but expensive fabrication processes,closed-loop monitoring circuitry and adaptive biasing etc. In general,these techniques attempt to reduce the PVT variations and timingvariations of the digital circuits and systems by means of betterfabrication technologies and/or intensive statistical timing analyses.An overview of these techniques can be found in references [1] and[10]-[13].

To improve speed, current digital circuits and systems often adoptnano-scaled fabrication methods, together with techniques such asaggressive timing control, parallelism and pipelining, and dynamic logicetc. The premise of these techniques is to reasonably predict thecomputation times required by the digital operations, and to reduce thedelays of these operations as much as possible. A good overview of thesetechniques can be found in references [5], [8], [9] and [12].

The use of nano-scaled fabrication methods also help to reduce powerdissipation. On top of these methods, current digital circuits andsystems also often adopt techniques such as dynamic voltage andfrequency scaling, clock gating, power gating, multi-threshold control,parallelism and pipelining etc. to further reduce the power dissipation.The premise of these techniques is to reduce operating supply voltages,switching activities, switching frequencies, parasitic capacitance andleakage currents. A good overview of these techniques can be found inreferences [5] and [14]-[16].

To reduce EMI, techniques such as using careful layout implementations,using clock synthesis, shielding, increasing wire spacing to reducetransmission line effect etc. are often adopted. A good overview ofthese techniques can be found in references [5] and [20].

Note that although the above-mentioned techniques are largely intendedfor synchronous-logic circuits and systems, some of the techniques mayalso be used for hybrid synchronous/asynchronous-logic circuits andsystems.

Despite the development of the above techniques, digital circuits andsystems based on synchronous-logic design methodology (and those basedon hybrid synchronous/asynchronous-logic design methodology) are stillunsatisfactory. Due to the large timing variations in circuits andsystems fabricated by nano-scaled fabrication processes, it remainschallenging to realize synchronous-logic circuits and systems that fullysatisfy the timing assumptions. In fact, robust high-speed operations insynchronous-logic circuits and systems would almost never be guaranteedunless the PVT variations issues have been fully addressed. Furthermore,due to their complex clock infrastructure, synchronous-logic circuitsand systems still tend to have high power dissipation and high EMI. Toalleviate the effects of the PVT variations and the complex clockinfrastructure, the speeds of synchronous-logic circuits and systemsoften have to be compromised.

Asynchronous-Logic-Based Techniques

The asynchronous-logic approach is in some ways advantageous over thesynchronous-logic approach as it allows for more design simplicity andoperational robustness. This is largely because asynchronous-logiccircuits and systems are self-timed i.e. there is no need for a globalclock signal for data synchronization. Instead, the asynchronous-logicapproach achieves data synchronization by using a set of handshakeprotocols. Using the asynchronous-logic approach also helps in achievinglower EMI. This is because while synchronous-logic digital operationsare synchronized at the same time which can potentially lead to highcurrent spikes (and hence, higher EMI), asynchronous-logic digitaloperations are distributed across time, resulting in a smaller rate ofchange in current (and hence lower EMI).

Details of asynchronous-logic circuits and design methodology can befound in J. Sparso et al. [6]. In particular, FIG. 2 shows thecategorization of design techniques for implementing digital circuitswith these techniques being classified into synchronous-logic-based andasynchronous-logic-based techniques at the highest level, and with theasynchronous-logic-based techniques being further classified accordingto the class of asynchronous-logic approach they belong to. In general,there are three classes of asynchronous-logic approaches comprising (1)the delay-insensitive approach in the first class, (2) thequasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) and speed-independent approaches in thesecond class, and (3) the matched-delay approach in the third class.These approaches are elaborated below.

The delay-insensitive approach requires the digital circuits to adhereto a strict delay property. Although the resulting delay-insensitivecircuits can operate perfectly even in the presence of gate and/or wiredelays, it is difficult to realize such circuits. As a result,delay-insensitive circuits generally comprise only C-Muller circuits.Hence, the delay-insensitive approach is impractical.

The matched-delay approach is in some sense similar to thesynchronous-logic approach in that timing assumptions are required and“pessimistic” design practices with large safety timing margins have tobe adopted to ensure robust operations. In particular, the matched-delayapproach works by placing bounds on wire and/or gate delays so as tomatch the delay of delay lines to that of associated combinationalcircuits. However, it is often difficult to achieve a good match betweenthe aforementioned delays due to PVT variations in the digital circuitsand systems. Hence, it is difficult to achieve operational robustness inmatched-delay circuits without adopting the “pessimistic” designpractices.

The speed-independent and QDI approaches are grouped together under oneclass as they have similar self-detection mechanisms. Theoretically,both speed-independent circuits and QDI circuits can achieve operationalrobustness even in the presence of gate delays in the circuits. However,the speed-independent approach works based on the assumption that allwire delays are negligible. With current nano-scaled fabricationprocesses, this is an unrealistic assumption. On the other hand, QDIcircuits work by innately detecting computational delays that arise dueto different workloads and operating conditions. This helps inaccommodating the PVT variations, thereby achieving design simplicityand increasing operational robustness. The only timing assumption in theQDI approach is the “isochronic forks” assumption, that is, branchedwires from a wire node are assumed to have the same wire delays. Such atiming assumption can be fulfilled in practice. Therefore, as comparedto the other asynchronous-logic approaches, the QDI approach is probablythe most suitable approach for today's applications to innately addressPVT variations.

Operation of a QDI Circuit

The following provides a brief overview of the operation of a QDIcircuit.

A QDI circuit usually uses dual-rail data encoding in which two wires(or rails) are used to encode a data signal. Table II shows thisdual-rail data encoding.

TABLE II D.T (first rail) D.F (second rail) Valid ‘0’ 0 1 Valid ‘1’ 1 0Null (‘0’ reset) 0 0 Null (‘1’ reset) 1 1

In particular, the first and second rails respectively representdual-rail data D.T and D.F. When both rails are in the same logic states(either both D.T and D.F are at logic ‘0’ for the ‘0’ reset encoding orboth D.T and D.F are at logic ‘1’ for the ‘1’ reset encoding), the datasignal the rails encode is considered “null” or in other words, “empty”.Conversely, when the rails are in opposite logic states (i.e. D.T is atlogic ‘1’ while D.F is at logic ‘0’, or D.T is at logic ‘0’ while D.F isat logic ‘1’), the data signal is considered “valid”. In particular, D.Tat logic ‘1’ and D.F at logic ‘0’ encodes a valid ‘1’ signal, whereasD.T at logic ‘0’ and D.F at logic ‘1’ encodes a valid ‘0’ signal.

Note that in this document, the dual-rail data D.T, D.F are considered“empty” when they are at logic states indicating that the data signal is“empty” (i.e. when D.T=‘0’, D.F=‘0’ for the ‘0’ reset encoding or whenD.T=‘1’, D.F=‘1’ for the ‘1’ reset encoding). When any one of thedual-rail data D.T, D.F is asserted indicating either a valid ‘0’ signalor a valid ‘1’ signal (i.e. when D.T is at logic ‘1’ and D.F is at logic‘0’, or when D.T is at logic ‘0’ and D.F is at logic ‘1’), the dual-raildata D.T, D.F are considered “valid”.

In general, a QDI circuit is configured to receive dual-rail inputsignals encoding a logic input and provide dual-rail output signalsencoding a logic output. The QDI circuit is also configured to operateeither in an initialization mode or in an active mode, and in the activemode, is further configured to alternate between a reset state (whichthe circuit enters after performing a reset operation) and an evaluatestate (in which the circuit performs an evaluation operation).Basically, in the initialization mode, a QDI circuit is in a pre-definedcondition having the same output signaling as when it is in the resetstate in the active mode. The QDI circuit enters the initialization modeonly once after a global reset of the system (i.e. after the entiresystem, including the QDI circuit and other logic gates, isinitialized). In the active mode, the QDI circuit is switched from thereset state to the evaluate state upon detection of a valid logic input,and is switched from the evaluate state to the reset state upondetection of an empty logic input. Usually, the alternating of the QDIcircuit is not just based on the logic input but is further based on oneor more handshake signals. These handshake signals may in turn be basedon the logic input and/or output of the QDI circuit, or that of one ormore adjoining QDI circuits. Thus, dual rails encoding each data signalin a QDI circuit can be said to not only encode the state of the datasignal but also carry timing information to control the alternating ofthe QDI circuit between the two states. With this, the commencement andcompletion of operations in QDI circuits can be easily detected.

A more specific description of how a QDI circuit operates is providedbelow. The QDI circuit may first be initialized by a global reset to theinitialization mode. In the initialization mode, the logic input isempty. The QDI circuit remains in the initialization mode until theglobal reset is released, and thereafter, the QDI circuit enters theactive mode. In the active mode, the QDI circuit performs twooperations—an evaluation operation in the evaluate state and a resetoperation to return to the reset state. Initially (upon the release ofthe global reset), the QDI circuit is in the reset state. Upon receivinga valid logic input (and when the handshake signal(s) indicate that theQDI circuit is ready for the evaluation operation), the QDI circuitenters the evaluate state and performs the evaluation operation on thevalid logic input to produce a valid logic output. When the logic inputbecomes empty again (and when the handshake signal(s) indicate that theQDI circuit is ready for the reset operation), the reset operation isperformed for the QDI circuit to return to the reset state.

Pipeline Structures in which QDI Circuits can be Adopted

As shown in FIG. 2, QDI approaches can be further classified based onthe pipeline structures they are applicable to. A pipeline structuregenerally comprises a Datapath and a Controller, whereby the Datapathallows the flow of data through the pipeline to perform operations andthe Controller controls this flow of data.

In general, there are two asynchronous-logic pipeline structures inwhich QDI circuits can be adopted—the Data-Control Decompositionpipeline structure and the Integrated-Latch pipeline structure. Thesestructures differ from each other in that in the Data-ControlDecomposition pipeline structure, the Controller and Datapath areseparated whereas in the Integrated-Latch pipeline structure, theController and Datapath are integrated. This is elaborated below withreference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

In particular, FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the Data-ControlDecomposition pipeline structure in which the Controller (QDI controllercircuit comprising the asynchronous-logic controllers including latches,latch controller and input completion detection circuits (ICD)) isseparated from the Datapath (QDI circuits). The logic input is indicatedas Input and is in the dual rail format. Upon detecting that the logicinput is valid, the circuit of FIG. 3 generates a logic output shown asOutput in the dual rail format, and a signal L_(ack) which indicatesthat the signal is valid. The signal L_(ack) is passed to the cell ofthe previous pipeline to act as R_(ack) for that cell. The circuitcontinues to hold the logic output, Output. When a handshake signalR_(ack) is received, it indicates that Output has been consumed by thesucceeding pipeline and the circuit can stop holding the logic output,Output. The circuit of FIG. 3 allows the Controller and the Datapath tobe designed independently and in turn allows a simpler realization ofthe pipeline. However, pipelines based on this structure tend to be slow(or speed-inefficient) as the grouping of many QDI circuits togetherresults in a long critical delay path.

Examples of QDI approaches applicable to the Data-Control Decompositionpipeline structure include the Delay-Insensitive Minterm Synthesis(DIMS) approach, NULL Convention Logic (NCL) approach, Pre-chargedStatic Logic (PSCL) approach and those using a combination of theseaforementioned approaches. More details on the Data-ControlDecomposition pipeline structure and the QDI realizations for thispipeline structure can be found in references [2], [3], [6], [17] and[18].

In contrast, the Integrated-Latch pipeline structure integrates theController and the Datapath by incorporating an asynchronous-logiccontroller into each QDI circuit (logic cell) to form a micro-cell levelpipeline circuit. The resulting QDI circuit may be referred to as an“Integrated-Latch QDI circuit”. FIG. 4 shows an example of such an“Integrated-Latch QDI circuit” with its generic interface signals. Theterms Input, Output, L_(ack) and R_(ack) have the same meaning as inFIG. 3. As compared to a pipeline based on the Data-ControlDecomposition pipeline structure, a pipeline based on theIntegrated-Latch pipeline structure has a shorter critical delay pathand therefore, operates faster. In fact, depending on the logic depthwithin the pipeline, the speed of a pipeline based on theIntegrated-Latch pipeline structure can be 10×-100× higher (in terms ofthroughput rate) than that of a pipeline based on the Data-ControlDecomposition pipeline structure. In an Integrated-Latch QDI pipeline,besides detecting the commencement and completion of operations in eachQDI circuit, it is also necessary to address the “input completeness”issue and the “gate orphan” issue to preserve thequasi-delay-insensitivity attribute of the pipeline. More specifically,the “input completeness” issue refers to the need for all inputs to eachQDI circuit to be acknowledged before a new pipeline operation iscommenced, whereas the “gate orphan” issue refers to the need to avoidoccurrences of “gate orphans” (a “gate orphan” occurs when an internalgate is enabled to switch its output but this switching is masked fromthe observable outputs of the entire circuit).

An example QDI approach applicable to the Integrated-Latch pipelinestructure is the Pre-Charged Half Buffers (PCHB) approach. FIG. 5 showsa buffer cell implemented based on the PCHB approach. In particular, thebuffer cell in FIG. 5 receives dual-rail input signals A.T, A.F,provides dual-rail output signals Q.T, Q.F and operates using the left-and right-channel handshake signals L_(ack), R_(ack). Furthermore, thebuffer cell comprises an “Input detection” circuit 502 for addressingthe “input completeness” issue as mentioned above. In particular, this“Input detection” circuit 502 comprises an OR gate configured to receivethe input signals A.T and A.F. Furthermore, the buffer cell in FIG. 5 isdesigned such that no “gate orphan” is observed. Having addressed the“input completeness” and “gate orphan” issues, the buffer cell can thusachieve robust data synchronization (see references [6] and [7]).Further, the buffer cell in FIG. 5 has a forward latency of twotransitions, i.e. a first transition to dis-charge either S.T or S.F to‘0’, and a corresponding second transition to charge either Q. T or Q.Fto ‘1’.

Although PCHB circuits (or cells) are more advantageous than DIMS, NCL,PSCL circuits (or cells) as they are designed to implement theIntegrated-Latch pipeline structure, the PCHB cells tend to suffer fromlarge circuit and power overheads. There are other approaches such asthe PS0, LP2/1, Single-Track Asynchronous Pulse Logic (STAPL),Single-Track Full Buffer (STFB) and Sense-Amplifier Pass TransistorLogic (SAPTL) approaches that are also applicable to theIntegrated-Latch pipeline structure. However, these approaches are notfully QDI as they require further timing assumptions on top of the“isochronic forks” assumption. This is because the circuit realizationof these approaches does not fully address the “input completeness”and/or “gate orphan” issues, hence the circuits require some furthertiming assumptions to achieve conditional error-free operations.Therefore, circuits based on these approaches are not as operationallyrobust as those based on fully QDI approaches. Further, similar to thePCHB circuit, the circuits for the PS0, LP2/1, STAPL, STFB and SAPTLapproaches also have large circuit overheads. More details of theasynchronous-logic Integrated-Latch pipeline structure and theassociated QDI realizations can be found in references [2], [4], [7] and[17]-[19].

In view of the above, it can be said that even though theasynchronous-logic approach is in some ways more advantageous than thesynchronous-logic approach, the asynchronous-logic approach stillsuffers from many problems. For example, QDI digital circuits, such asthe PCHB circuit, still suffer from high power dissipation (partly dueto the dual-rail encoding) and large IC area requirements. Therefore,similar to current design techniques based on the synchronous-logicapproach, current design techniques based on the asynchronous-logicapproaches, including the QDI approach, are also unsatisfactory inachieving operations which have simultaneously operational robustness,high-speed, low power dissipation and low EMI attributes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention aims to provide a new and useful digital cell forperforming a logic operation on a logic input to produce a logic output.

In general terms, the present invention proposes a digital cellcomprising two blocks, both blocks configured to detect a valid logicinput and further configured to cooperate to produce the logic outputupon the detection of the valid logic input. One of these is anevaluation block which generates an output signal when a logic input isvalid, and the other is a sense-amplifier which amplifies the outputsignal to such an extent that it can be recognized (e.g. by other cells)as encoding valid output data.

Specifically, an aspect of the present invention is a digital cell forperforming a logic operation on a logic input to produce a logic output,wherein the digital cell comprises an evaluation block and asense-amplifier block, the evaluation block and the sense amplifierblock being configured to together generate output signalsrepresentative of the logic output, the logic input comprising at leastone bit of data, the logic output comprising at least one bit of data,

-   -   both the evaluation block and the sense-amplifier block being        configured to receive input signals representative of the logic        input, and to detect when either said logic input or said input        signals encode said at least one bit of data of the logic input        such that the at least one bit of data of the logic input is        valid or empty, and    -   wherein the digital cell is configured to alternate between a        reset state and an evaluate state, such that:    -   (i) upon the digital cell being in the reset state, and when        either said logic input or said input signals encode said at        least one bit of data of the logic input such that the at least        one bit of data of the logic input is valid, the digital cell is        switched from the reset state to the evaluate state in which the        evaluation block generates a difference in the output signals        based on the logic input and the logic operation to be        performed, and the sense-amplifier block amplifies said        difference in the output signals so that the output signals        encode said at least one bit of data of the logic output,        thereby producing valid output signals where the at least one        bit of data of the logic output is valid; and    -   (ii) upon the digital cell being in the evaluate state with the        valid output signals, when either said logic input or said input        signals encode said at least one bit of data of the logic input        such that the at least one bit of data of the logic input is        empty, the digital cell is triggered to switch from the evaluate        state to the reset state.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Embodiments of the invention will now be illustrated for the sake ofexample only with reference to the following drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1( a)-(b) show possible soft error rates of two digital circuittypes if these digital circuit types are fabricated using current andpossible future fabrication process technologies;

FIG. 2 shows the categorization of prior art design techniques forimplementing digital circuits;

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a first pipeline structure (Data-ControlDecomposition pipeline structure) in which QDI circuits can be adopted;

FIG. 4 shows an example circuit in a second pipeline structure(Integrated-Latch pipeline structure) in which QDI circuits may beadopted;

FIG. 5 shows a buffer cell based on the prior art PCHB approach;

FIG. 6 shows a digital cell for performing a logic operation accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 7( a)-(b) show components of the digital cell of FIG. 6;

FIGS. 8( a)-(b) show a buffer cell based on the digital cell of FIG. 6;

FIGS. 9( a)-(b) show a layout realization of the buffer cell of FIGS. 8(a)-(b), with FIG. 9( a) highlighting the different sub-blocks of thebuffer cell and FIG. 9( b) highlighting the different transistor typesin the buffer cell;

FIGS. 10( a)-(b) respectively show a 2-input AND/NAND cell and a 3-inputAO/AOI cell, both of which are examples of the digital cell of FIG. 6;

FIG. 11( a) shows a pipeline adder comprising the digital cell of FIG.6, and FIGS. 11( b)-(d) show the different types of pipeline blocks inthe pipeline adder of FIG. 11( a);

FIG. 12 shows further details of one of the types of pipeline blocks inthe pipeline adder of FIG. 11( a);

FIG. 13 shows a cell based on the prior art SAPTL approach; and

FIG. 14, which is composed of FIGS. 14( a)-14(c), shows three differentways in which the logic input can be used to generate the input signalsin embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS SAQDI Cell 600

FIG. 6 shows a digital cell 600 for performing a logic operationaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, thedigital cell 600 is based on the QDI asynchronous-logic approach (i.e.it is a digital QDI cell) and may be referred to as an “Integrated-LatchSense Amplifier QDI (SAQDI) Circuit” or more simply, a “SAQDI cell”.

As shown in FIG. 6, the SAQDI cell 600 is configured to receive inputsignals representative of a logic input. This logic input comprises aprimary logic input, Input and complementary logic input, nInput (notethat throughout this document the prefix n is used to denote the logicalcomplement). Note that each of Input and nInput comprises one or morebits. Each bit is encoded by a respective pair of the input signalsusing the dual rail system. Thus, in the case that the Input is just asingle bit, the primary logic input, Input is represented (or encoded)by dual-rail primary input signals A.T, A.F, and the complementary logicinput nInput is represented by dual-rail complementary input signalsnA.T, nA.F. The SAQDI cell 600 generates output signals representativeof a logic output comprising a primary logic output, Q and acomplementary logic output, nQ. The primary logic output Q isrepresented by dual-rail primary output signals Q.T, Q.F and thecomplementary logic output nQ is represented by dual-rail complementaryoutput signals nQ.T, nQ.F.

The SAQDI cell 600 is further configured to receive an input handshakesignal (comprising primary right-channel handshake signal R_(ack) andcomplementary right-channel handshake signal nR_(ack)), and provide anoutput handshake signal (comprising primary left-channel handshakesignal L_(ack) and complementary left-channel handshake signalnL_(ack)). An initialization input signal RST is also provided to theSAQDI cell 600.

FIGS. 7( a)-(b) show the components of the SAQDI cell 600. Inparticular, the SAQDI cell 600 comprises an evaluation block 702 asshown in FIG. 7( a) and a sense-amplifier block 704 as shown in FIG. 7(b). The evaluation block 702 comprises a pull-up network 706 and apull-down network 708. The pull-down network 708 in turn includes areset circuit (not shown in FIG. 7( a)). The sense-amplifier block 704comprises an amplification circuit in the form of a sense-amplifiercross-coupled latch 710, complementary buffers and a completion circuit.In FIG. 7( b), the complementary buffers and completion circuit areshown together as block 712. The evaluation and sense-amplifier blocks702, 704 are configured such that they can either be powered by separatepower supplies or by the same power supply. In FIGS. 7( a)-(b), theseblocks 702, 704 are shown to be powered by separate power supplies. Inparticular, as shown in FIG. 7( a), the block 702 is powered by a firstsupply voltage V_(DD1) at an input 714, and as shown in FIG. 7( b), theblock 704 is powered by a second supply voltage V_(DD2) at an input 716.Note that for the SAQDI cell 600 to operate, the voltage V_(DD2) atinput 716 supplied to the sense-amplifier block 704 must be equal to orhigher than the voltage V_(DD1) at input 714 supplied to the evaluationblock 702.

Operation of the SAQDI Cell 600

Similar to other digital QDI cells, the SAQDI cell 600 is configured tooperate either in an initialization mode or in an active mode, and inthe active mode, is further configured to alternate between a resetstate and an evaluate state in the manner as described in the section“Operation of a QDI circuit” above.

In particular, the reset circuit in the pull-down network 708 isconfigured to receive the initialization input signal RST. Thisinitialization input signal RST serves as the global reset such thatwhen RST is asserted (i.e. RST becomes at logic ‘1’), the reset circuitis activated, and the SAQDI cell 600 is reset and enters theinitialization mode. The initialization input signal RST should benegated (i.e. RST should be at logic ‘0’) for the SAQDI cell 600 toenter the active mode.

When the SAQDI cell 600 is in the initialization mode, the logic input(Input and its complement nInput) and output (Q and its complement nQ)are empty i.e. both the input signals and output signals do not encodeany valid bit, and the input and output handshake signals are negated.Thus, in the case that the Input comprises just one bit, the primaryinput, output and handshake signals A.T, A.F, Q.T, Q.F, L_(ack), R_(ack)are all at logic ‘0’, whereas the complements nA.T, nA.F, nQ.T, nQ.F,nL_(ack), nR_(ack) are all at logic ‘1’. When the initialization inputsignal RST is negated, the SAQDI cell 600 enters the active mode withits input, output and handshake signals remaining at the same logicstates i.e. the cell 600 enters the reset state of the active mode.

The evaluation block 702 and the sense-amplifier block 704 are bothconfigured to receive the input signals representative of the logicinput and to detect when the input signals validly encode at least onebit of Input or in other words, detect a valid logic input (i.e. in thecase that Input comprises just one bit, either A.T at logic ‘1’ and nA.Tat logic ‘0’ with A.F at logic ‘0’ and nA.F at logic ‘1’, or A.T atlogic ‘0’ and nA.T at logic ‘1’ with A.F at logic ‘1’ and nA.F at logic‘0’). Upon the detection of a valid logic input (and with R_(ack) atlogic ‘0’), the cell 600 is switched from the reset state to theevaluate state.

In the evaluate state, the SAQDI cell 600 first performs the evaluationoperation. This evaluation operation involves generating the logicoutput Q, nQ In particular, upon detection of a valid logic input, theevaluation block 702 generates a difference in its output signals Q.T,Q.F based on the logic input and the logic operation to be performed.This is done via the cooperation of its pull-up and pull-down networks706, 708.

Also upon detection of a valid logic input, the sense-amplifiercross-coupled latch 710 turns on and amplifies (with a positive feedbackmechanism) the difference in the output signals Q.T, Q.F generated bythe evaluation block 702, to increase the value of the higher of thosesignals to a value suitable for transmission to other cells. Thisproduces primary output signals Q.T, Q.F which encode a valid bit, thusgenerating a valid primary logic output Q. These output signals Q.T, Q.Fare then latched by the sense-amplifier cross-coupled latch 710. Thecomplementary buffers generate the complementary output signals nQ.T,nQ.F from the primary output signals Q.T, Q.F (hence, producing a validcomplementary logic output nQ), and the completion circuit detects thevalid logic output Q, nQ and asserts the output handshake signal (i.e.changing L_(ack) to logic ‘1’ and nL_(ack) to logic ‘0’) to indicate thevalidity of the logic output Q, nQ.

The SAQDI cell 600 only performs the reset operation to return to thereset state when the logic input become empty again and if the inputhandshake signal becomes asserted (i.e. if R_(ack) becomes at logic ‘1’and nR_(ack) becomes at logic ‘0’). The reset operation involves (i)resetting the logic output i.e. causing the logic output to become emptyand (ii) negating the output handshake signal (i.e. changing L_(ack) tologic ‘0’ and nL_(ack) to logic ‘1’). In particular, the logic output Q,nQ is reset via the pull-down network 708 whereas the output handshakesignal (comprising L_(ack), nL_(ack)) is negated via the completioncircuit. When the input handshake signal (comprising R_(ack), nR_(ack))is again negated (i.e. R_(ack) becomes at logic ‘0’, nR_(ack) becomes atlogic ‘1’), the SAQDI cell 600 returns to the reset state and is readyfor the next evaluation operation.

Realizations of the SAQDI Cell 600

FIGS. 8( a)-(b) show an example realization of the SAQDI cell 600 in thecase that Input comprises just one bit. In particular, FIGS. 8( a)-(b)show a QDI buffer cell implemented based on the SAQDI cell 600, withFIG. 8( a) showing the evaluation block 702 and FIG. 8( b) showing thesense-amplifier block 704.

As shown in FIG. 8( a), the pull-up and pull-down networks 706, 708 inthe evaluation block 702 comprise a plurality of NMOS transistors. Inparticular, one of the NMOS transistors in the pull-down network 708 isconfigured to receive the initialization input signal RST. If thisinitialization input signal RST is asserted, the NMOS transistor turnson, thus shorting the output signals Q.T, Q.F together, resetting theseoutput signals Q.T, Q.F. This resets the logic output Q, nQ.

As shown in FIG. 8( b), the sense-amplifier cross-coupled latch 710comprises an input completeness circuit 802 and a feedback circuit 804,each of which comprises a plurality of PMOS transistors. Thesense-amplifier cross-coupled latch 710 also comprises a holding circuit806 which in turn comprises cross-coupled inverters formed of a mixtureof PMOS and NMOS transistors. The complementary buffers comprise twoinverters 808 configured to receive the primary output signals Q.T, Q.Fand provide the complementary output signals nQ.T, nQ.F. The completioncircuit comprises an NAND gate 810 configured to receive thecomplementary output signals nQ.T, nQ.F and provide the primaryleft-channel handshake signal L_(ack). The completion circuit furthercomprises an inverter 812 for providing the complementary left-channelhandshake signal nL_(ack).

An example operation of the QDI buffer cell is described below.

When the QDI buffer cell is in the initialization mode (only once) or inthe reset state of the active mode, the logic input and output are allempty and the handshake signals are all negated. In other words, A.T,A.F, Q.T, Q.F, L_(ack), R_(ack) are all at logic ‘0’, whereas thecomplements nA.T, nA.F, nQ.T, nQ.F, nL_(ack), nR_(ack) are all at logic‘1’.

When the QDI buffer is in the active mode and when it receives a validlogic input with A.F at logic ‘1’ (nA.F at logic ‘0’) and A.T at logic‘0’ (nA.T at logic ‘1’), it enters the evaluate state of the active modeand first performs the evaluation operation as follows.

Since A.F is at logic ‘1’ and A.T is at logic ‘0’ whereas nA.F is atlogic ‘0’ and nA.T is at logic ‘1’, the output signal Q.F of theevaluation block 702 gets partially charged up by the pull-up network706 whereas the output signal Q.T remains grounded via the pull-downnetwork 708. A voltage difference in the output signals Q.T, Q.F is thusgenerated.

The valid logic input is also received by the sense-amplifier block 704.As nA.F is now at logic ‘0’ (and R_(ack) remains at logic ‘0’), theinput completeness circuit 802 turns on, shorting the virtual supplyvoltage V_(DD) _(—) _(v) to the supply voltage V_(DD2). This raises thevirtual supply voltage V_(DD) _(—) _(v) from a voltage of about V_(tp)to V_(DD2), turning on the holding circuit 806 and further charging upthe output signal Q.F. This hence amplifies the voltage of the outputsignal Q.F (in other words, amplifies the voltage difference in theoutput signals Q.T, Q.F) to a level at which the output signal Q.F canbe considered to be at logic ‘1’. As mentioned above, the output signalQ.T remains grounded via the pull-down network 708 and is hence at logic‘0’. Therefore, a valid primary logic output with Q.T at logic ‘0’ andQ.F at logic ‘1’ are produced. A valid complementary logic output withnQ.T at logic ‘1’ and nQ.F at logic ‘0’ are then obtained through theinverters 808.

The output signals Q.T, Q.F, nQ.T, nQ.F representing the valid logicoutput Q, nQ are then latched via the cross-coupled inverters in theholding circuit 806. For the cross-coupled inverters to maintain thisstate-latching function, the holding circuit 806 has to be kept on. Thisis achieved via the feedback circuit 804 which is configured to keep theholding circuit 806 on if the logic output Q, nQ is valid. Morespecifically, the feedback circuit 804 is configured to receive thecomplementary output signals nQ.T, nQ.F. Since nQ.F is now at logic ‘0’,the feedback circuit 804 turns on, thus maintaining the virtual supplyvoltage V_(DD) _(—) _(v) at V_(DD2) and keeping the holding circuit 806on even if the input completeness circuit 802 turns off due to forexample, a change in the logic state of nA.F, or an assertion of R_(ack)from logic ‘0’ to logic ‘1’ (if both nA.F and R_(ack) become at logic‘1’, the reset operation will start as will be described in more detaillater on). The complementary output signal nQ.F is also fed back to theevaluation block 702. Since nQ.F is at logic ‘0’, when the pull-upnetwork 706 receives this complementary output signal nQ.F, itdisconnects the output signal Q.F from the supply voltage V_(DD1). Thisprevents short-circuit current to the output signal Q.F. Note that thisdisconnecting of the output signal Q.F from the supply voltage V_(DD1)is only necessary in this case as the evaluation block 702 and thesense-amplifier block 704 are powered by separate power suppliesV_(DD1), V_(DD2) as shown in FIGS. 8( a) and (b). If the evaluation andsense-amplifier blocks 702, 704 are powered by the same power supply,there is no need to disconnect the output signal Q.F from the supplyvoltage as any short-circuit current to the output signal Q.F will benegligible. Therefore, in this latter case, the transistors receivingthe complementary output signals nQ.T, nQ.F in the pull-up network 706need not be present.

The output signals nQ.T, nQ.F are also provided to the NAND gate 810 inthe completion circuit. Since nQ.T is at logic ‘1’ and nQ.F is at logic‘0’, the primary left-channel handshake signal L_(ack) becomes at logic‘1’ whereas the complementary left-channel handshake signal nL_(ack)provided through the inverter 812 becomes at logic ‘0’. In other words,the input handshake signal becomes asserted.

When the logic input becomes empty again (i.e. A.F returns to logic ‘0’and nA.F returns to logic ‘1’) and the output handshake signal becomesasserted (i.e. R_(ack) becomes at logic ‘1’ and nR_(ack) becomes atlogic ‘0’), the QDI buffer cell performs the reset operation to returnto the reset state as follows.

Since nA.T, nA.F and R_(ack) are now all at logic ‘1’, the feedbackcircuit 804 of the sense-amplifier cross-coupled latch 710 turns off.Thus, the virtual supply voltage V_(DD) _(—) _(v) is no longer held atthe supply voltage V_(DD2) and the holding circuit 806 is no longer kepton to perform its state-latching function. Furthermore, upon receivingthe empty logic input (with nA.T and nA.F both at logic ‘1’) and theasserted output handshake signal (with R_(ack) at logic ‘1’), thepull-down network 708 turns on. This shorts the output signals Q.T, Q.Fto ground, hence resetting the output signals Q.T, Q.F to logic ‘0’(i.e. the logic output Q, nQ is reset and become empty). This resettingof the output signals Q.T, Q.F negates the output handshake signal.Specifically, the primary left-channel handshake signal L_(ack) becomesat logic ‘0’ via the NAND gate 810 and the complementary left-channelhandshake signal nL_(ack) becomes at logic ‘1’ via the inverter 812 inthe completion circuit.

The layout realization of the QDI buffer cell shown in FIGS. 8( a)-(b)may be achieved using standard library cell practice. In particular,FIGS. 9( a)-(b) show an example layout realization of the QDI buffercell, with FIG. 9( a) highlighting the different sub-blocks of the celland FIG. 9( b) highlighting the PMOS and NMOS transistors in the cell.With this layout realization shown in FIGS. 9( a)-(b), the QDI buffercell has a total area of 5 μm×4.6 μm based on a 65 nm CMOS technology.The efficacy of the QDI buffer cell can be verified by means of computersimulations based on commercial fabrication processes. Using the layoutrealization shown in FIGS. 9( a)-(b) and post-layout extraction,figures-of-merit including power dissipation, delay, power-delay productand IC area requirements of the QDI buffer cell can be obtained.

Other types of QDI cells can also be realized based on the SAQDI cell600. In many of these, the logic input, Input, comprises more than onebit (k bits, k>1). For example, FIGS. 10( a)-(b) respectively show a2-input AND/NAND cell (with Input comprising a first bit represented byinput signals A.T, A.F and a second bit represented by input signalsB.T, B.F) and a 3-input AO/AOI cell (with Input comprising a first bitrepresented by input signals A.T, A.F, a second bit represented by inputsignals B.T, B.F and a third bit represented by input signals C.T, C.F),both of which are based on the SAQDI cell 600. In particular, FIGS. 10(a)-(b) each shows (on the left) the evaluation block 702 of the cellhaving the pull-up network 706 and the pull-down network 708, and (onthe right) the sense-amplifier block 704 of the cell having thesense-amplifier cross-coupled latch 710 and the block 712 comprising thecomplementary buffers and the completion circuit.

In FIGS. 10( a) and (b), the transistor configuration in the pull-upnetwork 706 within the evaluation block 702 is designed to possiblyfeature an early computation. This means that the evaluation block 702may start evaluating (i.e. start generating voltage difference(s) in itsoutput signals) even when only some of the bits of the logic input arevalid i.e. it does not need to wait until all the bits of the logicinput become valid. For example, in FIG. 10( a), when A.F=‘1’ (nA.F=‘0’)and nQ.F=‘1’ (independent of B.F), Q.F will be partially charged. Inthis case, to prevent the partially charged Q.F to erroneously initiatethe computation (this will violate the “input completeness” issue), thesupply voltage V_(DD1) needs to be set smaller than the switchingthreshold voltage of the buffer 1002 within the sense-amplifier block704, so that even with the partially charged Q.F, valid output signalsare not produced. For example, V_(DD1) can be set at the sub-thresholdvoltage region, e.g. 0.3V. The low V_(DD1) also helps in reducing thedynamic and leakage power in the evaluation block 702.

However, should it be desired that V_(DD1) and V_(DD2) be set the same,the pull-up network 706 within the evaluation block 702 needs todesigned such that the evaluation block 702 will only start evaluatingwhen all the bits of the logic input are valid.

Note that the SAQDI cell 600 may be realized using circuits differentfrom those shown in FIGS. 8( a)-(b) and FIGS. 10( a)-(b). For example,different types of transistors may be used (i.e. the NMOS transistorsmay be replaced by PMOS transistors or vice versa) with accordingchanges in the logic states of the different signals. Some of thetransistors may be removed or more transistors may be added. Also, thecomponents of the SAQDI cell 600 need not be fully implemented usingtransistors. One or more of these components may be fully or partiallyimplemented using other types of devices having a switch function.

Pipelines Comprising the SAQDI Cell 600

The SAQDI cell 600 is designed such that it can be adopted in theIntegrated-Latch pipeline structure (although, if desired, the SAQDIcell 600 can also be adopted in the Data-Control-Decomposition pipelinestructure).

FIGS. 11( a)-(d) illustrates how the SAQDI cell 600 may be adopted inthe Integrated-Latch pipeline structure.

In particular, FIG. 11( a) shows a block diagram of a 64-bit Kogge-Stonepipeline adder 1100 comprising QDI cells implemented based on the SAQDIcell 600. The primary inputs to the pipeline adder 1100 are A=A₆₃ . . .A₀, B=B₆₃ . . . B₀ and the Carry-in input C_(in). The primary outputs ofthe adder 1100 are S=S₆₃ . . . S₀ and the Carry-out output C_(out). Thepipeline adder 1100 operates using asynchronous-logic handshake signals(not shown in FIG. 11).

The pipeline adder 1100 is constructed in the form of a multiple carrylook-ahead tree so as to shorten the carry propagation time and in turn,increase the speed of the pipeline adder 1100. In particular, thepipeline adder 1100 comprises a total of eight pipeline stages,resulting in a (forward) latency of eight pipeline delays and athroughput rate of an inverse of one pipeline cycle-time delay. Thefirst pipeline stage (Pipeline 0) forms the Bitwise Propagate-Generate(PG) Logic, the next six pipeline stages (Pipelines 1-6) form the GroupPG Logic, and the last pipeline stage (Pipeline 7) forms the Sum Logicof the pipeline adder 1100.

The pipeline adder 1100 comprises a plurality of pipeline blocksarranged successively. There are three different types of pipelineblocks in the adder 1100. These are shown in FIGS. 11( b)-(d). Inparticular, the first type of pipeline block shown in FIG. 11( b)comprises an AO/AOI cell and a AND/NAND cell, the second type ofpipeline block shown in FIG. 11( c) comprises an AO/AOI cell and thethird type of pipeline block shown in FIG. 11( d) comprises a Buffercell. These cells are implemented based on the SAQDI cell 600. Eachpipeline block receives inputs G_(i:j), P_(i:j) from the pipeline blockprior to it and provides outputs G_(i:j), P_(i:j) to the pipeline blocksubsequent to it.

FIG. 12 shows further details of the first type of pipeline block. Asmentioned above, this pipeline block comprises an AO/AOI cell and anAND/NAND cell. These cells are implemented based on the SAQDI cell 600as more clearly illustrated in the circuit on the right of FIG. 12. Inparticular, the AO/AOI cell is shown as the “SAQDI AO/AOI” block whereasthe AND/NAND cell is shown as the “SAQDI AND/NAND” block.

The handshake protocol for this pipeline block in FIG. 12 is as follows.The pipeline block provides an overall output handshake signal to apipeline block prior to it (only the primary signal L_(ack) and not itscomplement is shown in FIG. 12). This overall output handshake signal isprovided via a C-Muller cell and is asserted when the output handshakesignals of both the AO/AOI and AND/NAND cells are asserted, indicatingthat both of these cells have generated their logic outputs. Therefore,an assertion of the overall output handshake signal is an indicationthat the operation on the outputs G_(i:j), P_(i:j) of the previouspipeline block has been completed (or in other words, have beenconsumed). The overall output handshake signal is negated when theoutput handshake signals of both the AO/AOI and AND/NAND are negated,indicating that both of these cells have reset their logic outputs. Ifonly one of the cells has generated its logic output or has reset itslogic output, the overall output handshake signal will remain unchanged.

The pipeline block in FIG. 12 receives the overall output handshakesignal provided by a subsequent pipeline block as its overall inputhandshake signal (again, only the primary signal R_(ack) and not itscomplement is shown in FIG. 12). This overall input handshake signalserves as the input handshake signals to both the AO/AOI and AND/NANDcells. Since this overall input handshake signal is in fact the overalloutput handshake signal of the subsequent pipeline block, the state ofthis overall input handshake signal is an indication of whether theoutputs G_(i:j) and P_(i:j) (of the pipeline block in FIG. 12) have beenconsumed by the subsequent pipeline block.

The handshake protocol for the second and third type of pipeline blocksis the same as the handshake protocol for the first type of pipelineblock as described above.

Besides the pipeline adder 1100, other types of pipelines may beconstructed using the SAQDI cell 600. A pipeline may also comprise aSAQDI cell 600 together with other types of cells as long as these othertypes of cells are able to cooperate with the SAQDI cell 600 toimplement the desired handshake protocol. For example, a pipeline blockmay comprise a SAQDI cell 600 together with a PCHB cell since both ofthese cells are configured to receive an input handshake signal(comprising L_(ack) and/or nL_(ack)) for their operations and provide anoutput handshake signal (comprising R_(ack), and/or nR_(ack)).

Advantages of the SAQDI Cell 600

The SAQDI cell 600 is advantageous as it is robust (virtuallyinsensitive to PVT variations), has a high speed (low delay), low powerdissipation, low EMI and low IC area requirements. Due to itsoperational robustness, the SAQDI cell 600 can be used to achieve morereliable circuit design technologies and is thus particularly useful forimplementing current and future electronic devices, especially when PVTvariations in circuits fabricated by future nano-scaled fabricationprocesses are expected to increase. The SAQDI cell 600 is alsoparticularly useful in implementing electronic devices requiring a highspeed at a low power budget and low EMI. Due to the low IC arearequirements of the SAQDI cell 600, these electronic devices can also bemade smaller.

The above advantages are in part due to the use of the QDIasynchronous-logic approach in the SAQDI cell 600. This confersoperational robustness on the cell 600 as no timing assumptions, exceptfor the “isochronic forks” assumption which can be fulfilled inpractice, are required. Therefore, the SAQDI cell 600 is more robustthan cells implemented based on the synchronous-logic approach and thoseimplemented based on asynchronous-logic approaches which require timingassumptions.

Although other QDI cells such as the PCSL cell, NCL cell, DIMS cell areavailable, the SAQDI cell 600 is advantageous over these other QDI cellsas it is designed for application in the Integrated-Latch pipelinestructure whereas the PCSL, NCL, DIMS cells are designed for applicationin the Data-Control Decomposition pipeline structure. As mentionedabove, a pipeline based on the Integrated-Latch pipeline structureoperates faster than a pipeline based on the Data-Control Decompositionpipeline structure.

The PCHB cell is also designed for application in the Integrated-Latchpipeline structure but its performance is inferior to that of the SAQDIcell 600. In particular, Table III shows comparison results betweenlibrary cells implemented based on the SAQDI cell 600 and library cellsimplemented based on the PCHB cell. There are in total six types oflibrary cells, namely the 1-bit buffer, 2-bit AND/NAND cell, 2-bitOR/NOR cell, 2-bit XOR/XNOR cell, 2-bit MUX/IMUX cell and 3-bit AO/AOIcell, used for the comparison. The cells are designed with 65 nm CMOStechnology. The supply voltages V_(DD1)=0.3V and V_(DD2)=1V are used forthe library cells implemented based on the SAQDI cell 600, and a supplyvoltage of 1V is used for the library cells implemented based on thePCHB cell. For ease of comparison, the figures-of-merit obtained by thecells based on the PCHB cell are normalized with respect to thoseobtained by the cells based on the SAQDI cell 600. The actualfigures-of-merit obtained by the cells based on the SAQDI cell 600 areshown in parentheses. These figures-of-merit include power dissipation(Power), delay, power-delay product (Power×Delay) and IC arearequirements.

TABLE III Power (μW) Delay (ps) Power × Delay IC area @1 V, 1 GHz @1 V(10⁻¹² J) (μm × μm) Cell SAQDI PCHB SAQDI PCHB SAQDI PCHB SAQDI PCHB1-bit 1× 3.37× 1× 1.38× 1× 4.65× 1× 1.09× Buffer  (7.1) (147) (1.04) (5× 4.6) 2-bit 1× 2.74× 1× 1.36× 1× 3.72× 1× 1.07× AND/NAND (11.4) (196)(2.23) (5 × 5.4) 2-bit 1× 2.82× 1× 1.40× 1× 3.95× 1× 1.07× OR/NOR (11.1)(190) (2.34) (5 × 5.4) 2-bit 1× 2.61× 1× 1.15× 1× 3.00× 1× 1.06×XOR/XNOR (12.1) (244) (2.95) (5 × 6.6) 2-bit 1× 2.61× 1× 1.13× 1× 2.95×1× 0.97× MUX/IMUX (14.1) (272) (3.84) (5 × 6.6) 3-bit 1× 2.65× 1× 1.22×1× 3.23× 1× 1.08× AO/AOI (13.8) (245) (3.38) (5 × 7.8) Average 1× 2.80×1× 1.27× 1× 3.58× 1× 1.06× (11.6) (216) (2.63) (5 × 6.1)

From Table III, it can be seen that the cells based on the SAQDI cell600 significantly outperform the cells based on the PCHB cell. Inparticular, as compared to the cells based on the PCHB cell, the cellsbased on the SAQDI cell 600 dissipate lower power and have higher speeds(and hence, better power-delay products). The cells based on the SAQDIcell 600 also have lower IC area requirements. More specifically, onaverage, the cells based on the PCHB cell dissipate 2.8× more power, are1.27× slower, have a power-delay product that is 3.58× worse and require1.06× more IC area than the cells based on the SAQDI cell 600.

A comparison between a 64-bit adder implemented using the SAQDI cell 600and a 64-bit adder implemented using the PCHB cell is also performed,with both adders having the structure shown in FIG. 11. Through thiscomparison, it is found that the adder implemented using the SAQDI cell600 performs better than that implemented using the PCHB cell. Inparticular, the adder implemented using the PCHB cell dissipates 2× morepower, is 1.2× slower and requires a 1.06× larger IC area than the adderimplemented using the SAQDI cell 600.

The superior performance of the SAQDI cell 600 is at least in part dueto the following reasons.

The SAQDI cell 600 comprises a sense-amplifier block 704 which helps toincrease the speed of the cell 600. In particular, as thesense-amplifier block 704 is configured to amplify the difference in theoutput signals from the evaluation block 702, the evaluation block 702need only partially charge the output signal (either Q.T or Q.F) bygenerating a small voltage swing since a full voltage swing can beeventually established through the operation of the sense-amplifierblock 704. Because of the cooperation between the evaluation andsense-amplifier blocks 702, 704, the forward latency (from the input tothe output of the SAQDI cell 600) comprises only one transition insteadof the usual two transitions in prior art QDI cells (including the PCHBcell). This speeds up the operation of the SAQDI cell 600. Furthermore,the amplification process by the sense-amplifier block 704 does notrequire any timing considerations and hence, is operationally robust.

The sense-amplifier block 704 is also useful in that it addresses the“input-completeness” issue as its input completeness circuit 802 isturned on only when the logic input is valid. In fact, the inputcompleteness circuit 802 serves not only to address the “inputcompleteness issue” but also as part of the output generation circuitsince when it turns on, it enables the sense-amplifier block's 704amplification process by shorting the virtual supply voltage V_(DD) _(—)_(v) to the supply voltage V_(DD2). In contrast, circuits for addressingthe “input completeness” issue and output generation circuits in priorart QDI cells are often separate entities. This difference allows theSAQDI cell 600 to have lower IC area requirements and a lower transistorcount (and hence, lower propagation delay) as compared to the prior artQDI cells.

Note that although the SAPTL approach reported by T.-T Liu et al inreference [19] also uses a sense-amplifier, the design principle andusage of this sense-amplifier is completely different from that of thesense-amplifier block 704 in the SAQDI cell 600. In particular, FIG. 13shows a SAPTL library cell. The SAPTL library cell comprises fourseparate sub-blocks, namely the Stack Driver, the Pass Transistor Stack,the Output Sense-Amplifier and the Completion Circuit. As shown in FIG.13, the Output Sense-Amplifier includes merely two asymmetric C-Mullergates for sensing the outputs from the Pass Transistor Stack and forlatching these outputs, with each C-Muller gate configured to amplifyone of the outputs from the Pass Transistor Stack. The main motivationof the SAPTL cell is to reduce leakage current and the OutputSense-Amplifier in this cell is not configured to detect a valid logicinput to the SAPTL cell. In contrast, the sense-amplifier block 704 inthe SAQDI cell 600 is configured to detect a valid logic input to theSAQDI cell 600 and amplify the difference in the output signalsgenerated by the evaluation block 702 upon detection of the valid logicinput. Further, although the SAPTL cell also uses dual-rail encoding, itis not fully QDI as some implicit timing assumptions are required.Therefore, it is not as operationally robust as compared to the SAQDIcell 600.

In the SAQDI cell 600, the circuits required to implement the handshakeprotocol are distributed between the evaluation block 702 and thesense-amplifier block 704. This enables the sharing of common signalsand allows the circuitry in each block 702, 704 to be used for both thehandshake operations and the evaluation/amplification operations. Thisreduces the total amount of circuitry required to perform all theoperations and in turn further reduces the IC area requirements and thetransistor count of the SAQDI cell 600. For example, the buffer cell,shown on FIG. 8, based on the SAQDI cell 600 requires 34 transistorswhile the buffer cell, shown in FIG. 5, based on the PCHB cell requires44 transistors. This is despite that the SAQDI cell 600 generates anduses complementary signals such as nInput, nR_(ack) whereas the PCHBcell does not. The evaluation block 702 and sense-amplifier block 704are also tightly coupled according to the handshake protocol. Inparticular, both the evaluation and reset operations of the cell 600 areperformed via the cooperation of the evaluation and sense-amplifierblocks 702, 704 as described above. This tight coupling between theevaluation and sense-amplifier blocks 702, 704 helps to reduce the powerdissipation and increase the speed of the SAQDI cell 600.

The lower transistor count of the SAQDI cell 600 (achieved due to thevarious reasons as mentioned above) in turn reduce the powerconsumption, power dissipation and EMI of the cell 600. These lowerpower consumption, power dissipation and EMI are also achieved becauseof the lower number of switching nodes (hence, a lower rate of changecurrent) in the SAQDI cell 600 and the more effective switchedcapacitance of the SAQDI cell 600.

Moreover, the evaluation block 702 of the SAQDI cell 600 can beimplemented using only NMOS transistors. This is advantageous as apull-up network comprising only NMOS transistors features lowerparasitic capacitances as compared to a pull-up network comprising PMOStransistors. Furthermore, a pull-up network comprising PMOS transistorshas a transistor sizing of at least 2× larger than that of a pull-upnetwork comprising only NMOS transistors. Hence, implementing thepull-up network 706 using only NMOS transistors helps to reduce the ICarea requirements of the cell 600.

The SAQDI cell 600 has a further advantage in that the evaluation block702 and the sense-amplifier block 704 can be powered by separate powersupplies. This allows the supply voltages of the blocks 702, 704 to beadjusted independently (each supply voltage can be adjusted within awide voltage range). For example, the supply of the evaluation block 702can be adjusted from 0.2V to 1.2V, and that of the sense-amplifier block704 can be adjusted from 0.5V to 1.2V. This is advantageous because thespeed of the SAQDI cell 600 depends more on the operation of thesense-amplifier block 704 than that of the evaluation block 702. Inparticular, the evaluation block 702 does not need to generate afull-voltage swing, so the speed of the SAQDI cell 600 does not decreasegreatly even when the evaluation block 702 is powered at a lower supplyvoltage. On the other hand, the sense-amplifier block 704 needs toamplify the difference in the output signals from the evaluation block702 fast and is hence preferably powered at a higher supply voltage.Therefore, by allowing the evaluation block 702 and the sense-amplifierblock 704 to be powered by separate power supplies, the evaluation block702 can be powered at a lower supply voltage to reduce the powerconsumption, power dissipation (including dynamic and leakage power) andEMI of the SAQDI cell 600, whereas the sense-amplifier block 704 can bepowered at a higher supply voltage to maintain the speed of the SAQDIcell 600.

Applications of the SAQDI Cell 600

The SAQDI cell 600 can be used to implement many types of digital cells,circuits and systems, for example, the cells those shown in Table III,the rudimentary 1-bit full adder, any word-length adder (including carryripple adder, carry-select adder, carry-look-ahead adder, etc.), anyword-length multiplier and any word-length divider etc. Furthermore,although the SAQDI approach is based on asynchronous-logic, the cellsimplemented based on the SAQDI cell 600 can also be used insynchronous-logic circuits and systems, or hybridsynchronous/asynchronous-logic circuits and systems. In fact, the SAQDIcell 600 can be used in not just digital systems but also mixed-signalsystems comprising both digital circuits and analog circuits (inparticular, the digital circuits in such systems can comprise one ormore cells based on the SAQDI cell 600).

Moreover, the SAQDI cell 600 can be used in many commercialapplications. Because of the advantages of the SAQDI cell 600 asmentioned above, the SAQDI cell 600 is particularly useful in today'sapplications which require not only operational robustness and speed,but also low power dissipation and low EMI. For example, the SAQDI cell600 can be used to implement Network-on-Chips (NoCs), computers,servers, routers, military sensing devices, printed electronics andspintronic devices as elaborated below.

NoCs are used to provide the communication between intellectual property(IP) cores and system-on-chips (SoCs) within large VLSI systemsimplemented on a silicon chip. The key design issues of NoCs usuallyrelate to achieving robust data synchronization, high speed and lowpower dissipation. Currently, many of the NoCs are implemented usingasynchronous-logic as this can provide innate switching activitydetection and hence, low standby power dissipation when the NoCs areinactive. Since the SAQDI cell 600 is based on asynchronous-logic, andis robust, fast and has low power dissipation, it is particularly usefulfor the implementation of NOCs.

Similar to the NoCs, the key design issues of multi-core microprocessors(for current and next-generation high-performance personal computersand/or servers) relate to achieving robust data synchronization, highspeed and low power dissipation. Particularly, asynchronous-logic servesas a better design platform for multi-core microprocessors as it isbecoming more and more challenging to employ synchronous-logic toachieve inter-core and intra-core data synchronization. Therefore, theSAQDI cell 600 is also useful for implementing multi-coremicroprocessors.

Another application of the SAQDI cell 600 pertains to remote-control orwireless applications. In particular, some remote sensors are activatedonly over a short period of time and remain idle for the rest of thetime. During the short period of time when the remote sensors areactivated, the digital circuits in these remote sensors have to computethe required logic operations as fast as possible. The remote sensorshave to then become idle again and the whole process is preferably donewithout dissipating or wasting too much power. Since the SAQDI cell 600is fast and has low power dissipation, it can be used to implement suchremote sensors.

The SAQDI cell 600 is also extremely useful in implementing military andsecurity applications. As mentioned above, besides the usual high speedand low power attributes, military and security applications also oftenrequire ultra low EMI to prevent hackers from deciphering securityinformation present in these applications. Due to the low EMI of theSAQDI cell 600, the SAQDI cell 600 can be used to meet the ultra low EMIrequirements of the military and security applications.

Furthermore, the SAQDI cell 600 can be used to improve the performanceof printed electronics. In particular, printed electronics use printingtechnology instead of lithography technology for making active devices(e.g. transistors and diodes) and interconnect wires. Although this canlower the fabrication cost, the variability in the active devices andwires formed using current printed electronics technology is high andthus, the variability in the resulting digital circuits is high. Sincethe SAQDI cell 600 is operationally robust and insensitive tovariations, using the SAQDI cell 600 in digital circuits implementedusing the printed electronics technology can help improve theperformance of these digital circuits.

The SAQDI cell 600 can also be used to improve the performance ofspintronics devices. In particular, spintronics technology uses magneticforce to spin electrons for storing and sending information. Althoughthere are advantages in using spintronics technology for implementingdigital circuits, the PVT variations in the resulting digital circuitsare usually high. Since the SAQDI cell 600 is operationally robust andinsensitive to variations, using the SAQDI cell 600 in digital circuitsimplemented using spintronics technology can also help improve theperformance of these digital circuits.

Variations to the SAQDI Cell 600

Although a few embodiments of the invention have been described indetail above, it is to be understood that many variations are possiblewithin the scope of the invention, as defined by the claims. Thesevariations also have the advantages of the SAQDI cell 600 as describedabove and can also be used for the applications as described above. Afew examples of such variations are given below.

For example, although the SAQDI cell 600 uses ‘0’ reset encoding(whereby A.T, A.F, Q.T, Q.F are considered empty when they are at logic‘0’), the SAQDI cell 600 may easily be modified to use the ‘1’ resetencoding (whereby A.T, A.F, Q.T, Q.F are considered empty when they areat logic ‘1’) instead. Furthermore, the SAQDI cell 600 may also bemodified such that the handshake signals are considered asserted whenthe primary handshake signals R_(ack), L_(ack) are at logic ‘0’ and thecomplementary handshake signals nR_(ack), nL_(ack) are at logic ‘1’.

In addition, although the SAQDI cell 600 is configured to receive aninput handshake signal (comprising primary and complementaryright-channel handshake signals R_(ack), nR_(ack)) and to provide anoutput handshake signal (comprising primary and complementaryleft-channel handshake signals L_(ack), nL_(ack)), the SAQDI cell 600can be varied to receive and/or provide more handshake signals. Thehandshake protocol of such a variant will be similar to that of theSAQDI cell 600 except that it uses more handshake signals. The SAQDIcell 600 can also be varied to use only R_(ack) (without nR_(ack)) forits handshake protocol by using one or more PMOS transistors in thepull-up network 706.

Moreover, the evaluation block 702 of the SAQDI cell 600 does not haveto comprise a pull-up network and a pull-down network. Other types ofcircuits capable of generating output signals based on the logic inputand the logic operation can also be used. A variant of the SAQDI cell600 which does not generate or use the complementary logic outputs nQ.T,nQ.F may also be implemented by modifying the evaluation block 702 andthe sense-amplifier block 704 of the SAQDI cell 600 accordingly. Thereset circuit in the SAQDI cell 600 can also be implemented with circuitstructures different from the one shown in FIG. 8( a). In fact, thereset circuit can even be absent if the cell is configured such that itwill certainly be in the reset state when powered on.

Yet furthermore, the embodiment of the invention presented above can bere-designed with different input encoding styles. FIG. 14( a) showsschematically the scheme of the embodiment above, in which the logicinput is in a dual-rail representation and exactly the same as the inputsignals fed to the evaluation block and sense amplifier block. In thiscase, both the logic input and the input signals may be said to encodedata. However, in variants of the invention, the logic input to theSAQDI can be represented either a single-rail or a multi-rail (N>1) datarepresentation. In some cases, an input decoding circuit is required todecode the inputs such that the outputs of the input decoding circuitencode data that can be recognized by the SAQDI cell. Thus, as shown inFIG. 14( b), the logic input is input to a single rail to dual railconversion input decoding circuit, which uses the truth table at theright of FIG. 14( b). Furthermore, for the single-rail datarepresentation, the logic input may not necessarily encode data. Thus,as shown in FIG. 14( c) the logic input is not enough of its own togenerate the input signals, but L_(ack) is also used by the inputdecoding circuit. For the multi-rail data representation, the inputs mayencode data representations different from (and including) the dual-railencoding. Put simply, the encoding of the input to the SAQDI may bedirectly from the input logic itself, or using input signals derived atleast partly from them.

Furthermore, although the embodiment presented above is fullyQDI-compliant, variants of the embodiment can be used in circuits havingtiming assumptions. For example, although the SAQDI cell 600 is fullyQDI, a variant of the SAQDI cell 600 which works in a manner similar tothat of the SAQDI cell 600 but uses further timing assumptions (beyondjust the “isochronic forks” assumption) may be implemented. Also,although the SAQDI cell 600 uses dual-rail encoding, it can be modifiedto use multi-rail encoding (i.e. N-rail encoding where N>2).

REFERENCES

-   1. J. T. Doyle et al, “All Digital Power Supply System and Method    that Provides a Substantially Constant Supply Voltage over Changes    in PVT without a Band Gap Reference Voltage,” U.S. Pat. No.    6,870,410, 22 Mar. 2005.-   2. J. S. Chang, B.-H. Gwee and K.-S. Chong, “Asynchronous-Logic for    Full Dynamic Voltage Scaling,” U.S. Provisional Patent No.    61/364,478.-   3. G. E. Sobelman et al, “NULL Convention Threshold Logic,” U.S.    Pat. No. 6,900,658, 31 May 2005.-   4. A. Martin et al, “Circuit Implementations for Asynchronous    Processors,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,613, 28, Nov. 2000.-   5. J. M. Rabeay et al, Digital Integrated Circuits, A System    Perspective. 2^(nd) Edition, Prentice Hall, 2001.-   6. J. Sparso et al, Principles of Asynchronous Circuit Designs, A    Systems Perspective. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001.-   7. P. A. Berrel et al, A Designer's Guide to Asynchronous VLSI.    Cambridge University Press, 2009.-   8. I. V. Kourtev et al, Timing Optimization for High-Speed Digital    Circuits. Springer, 2010.-   9. M. J. W. Rodwell, “High Speed Integrated Circuit Technology,    Towards 100 GHz Logic”, World Scientific Publishing Company, 2008.-   10. “Executive Summary” International Technology Roadmap for    Semiconductors (ITRS), 2011.-   11. J. Kwong et al, “A 65 nm Sub-Vt Microcontroller With Integrated    SRAM and Switched Capacitor DC-DC Converter,” IEEE Journal of    Solid-State Circuits, v44, n1, 2009.-   12. I. Chang et al, “Exploring Asynchronous Design Techniques for    Process-Tolerant and Energy-Efficient Subthreshold Operation,” IEEE    Journal of Solid-State Circuits, v45, n2, 2009.-   13. J. T. Kao et al, “A 175-mV Multiply-Accumulate Unit using an    Adaptive Supply Voltage and Body Bias Architecture,” IEEE Journal of    Solid-State Circuits, v37, n11, 2002.-   14. A. Chandrakasan et al, “Technologies for Ultra Dynamic Voltage    Scaling,” Proceedings of the IEEE, v98, n2, 2010.-   15. S. Mutoh et al, “1-V Power Supply High-speed Digital Circuit    Technology with Multi threshold-Voltage CMOS,” IEEE Journal of    Solid-State Circuits, v30, n8, 1995.-   16. L. Chang et al, “Practical Strategies for Power-Efficient    Computing Technologies,” Proceedings of the IEEE, v98, n2, 2010.-   17. A. Martin et al, “Asynchronous Techniques for System-on-Chip    Design,” Proceedings of the IEEE, v94, n6, 2006.-   18. J. S. Chang, B.-H. Gwee and K.-S. Chong, Digital    Asynchronous-Logic: Dynamic Voltage Control. DARPA Technical Report    HR0011-09-2-0006, 2010.-   19. T.-T. Liu et al, “Asynchronous computing in Sense    Amplified-Based Pass Transistor Logic,” IEEE Trans. Very Large Scale    Integr. (VLSI) Syst., v17, n7, 2009.-   20. D. Pandini et al, “Clock Distribution Techniques for Low-EMI    Design,” Journal of Embedded Computing, 2009.-   21. E. Beigne et al., “An asynchronous power aware and adaptive NoC    based circuit,” IEEE JSSC, v44, n4, pp. 1167-1177, April 2009.-   22. R. D. Jorgenson et al. “Ultralow-power operation in subthreshold    regimes applying clockless logic,” Proc. IEEE, v98, n2, pp. 299-314,    February 2010.-   23. K.-S. Chong et al., “Synchronous-logic and    globally-asynchronous-locally-synchronous (GALS) acoustic digital    signal processors,” IEEE JSSC, v47, n3, pp. 769-780, March 2012.

1. A digital cell for performing a logic operation on a logic input toproduce a logic output, wherein the digital cell comprises an evaluationblock and a sense-amplifier block, the evaluation block and thesense-amplifier block being configured to together generate outputsignals representative of the logic output, the logic input comprisingat least one bit of data, the logic output comprising at least one bitof data, both the evaluation block and the sense-amplifier block beingconfigured to receive input signals representative of the logic input,and to detect when either said logic input or said input signals encodesaid at least one bit of data of the logic input such that the at leastone bit of data of the logic input is valid or empty, and wherein thedigital cell is configured to alternate between a reset state and anevaluate state, such that: (i) upon the digital cell being in the resetstate, and when either said logic input or said input signals encodesaid at least one bit of data of the logic input such that the at leastone bit of data of the logic input is valid, the digital cell isswitched from the reset state to the evaluate state in which theevaluation block generates a difference in the output signals based onthe logic input and the logic operation to be performed, and thesense-amplifier block amplifies said difference in the output signals,thereby producing valid output signals where the output signals encodesaid at least one bit of data of the logic output such that the at leastone bit of data of the logic output is valid; and (ii) upon the digitalcell being in the evaluate state with the valid output signals, wheneither said logic input or said input signals encode said at least onebit of data of the logic input such that the at least one bit of data ofthe logic input is empty, the digital cell is triggered to switch fromthe evaluate state to the reset state.
 2. A digital cell according toclaim 1, wherein said at least one bit of data of the logic inputcomprises k bits of data where k is greater than 1, and wherein thealternating of the digital cell between the reset state and the evaluatestate is further based on said k bits of data such that: upon thedigital cell being in the reset state, and when either said logic inputor said input signals encode said k bits of data of the logic input suchthat all k bits of data are valid, the digital cell is switched from thereset state to the evaluate state; and upon the digital cell being inthe evaluate state, and when either said logic input of said inputsignals encode said k bits of data of the logic input such that all kbits of data are empty, the digital cell is triggered to switch from theevaluate state to the reset state.
 3. A digital cell according to claim1, wherein both the evaluation block and the sense-amplifier block arefurther configured to receive at least one input handshake signal, andwherein the alternating of the digital cell between the reset state andthe evaluate state is further based on said at least one input handshakesignal such that: upon the digital cell being in the reset state, saidat least one input handshake signal is negated; and upon the digitalcell being in the evaluate state, the digital cell is triggered toswitch from the evaluate state to the reset state only when said atleast one input handshake signal is asserted.
 4. A digital cellaccording to claim 1, wherein the evaluation block comprises a pull-upnetwork and a pull-down network, the pull-up and pull-down networksbeing configured to cooperate to generate the difference in the outputsignals.
 5. A digital cell according to claim 1, wherein each bit ofdata of the logic input is encoded by either at least one respectivepair of components of said logic input or at least one respective pairof said input signals, and the difference generated by the evaluationblock between the output signals is smaller than a minimum voltagebetween any said pair of input signals.
 6. A digital cell according toclaim 1, wherein the evaluation block comprises only NMOS transistors.7. A digital cell according to claim 1, wherein the sense-amplifierblock comprises a completion circuit configured to generate an outputhandshake signal indicating validity of the output signals.
 8. A digitalcell according to claim 7, wherein after the digital cell is triggeredto switch from the evaluate state to the reset state, the digital cellresets the output signals, thereby changing the output handshake signal.9. A digital cell according to claim 1, wherein the logic outputcomprises logic data signals complementary to each other, and whereinthe sense-amplifier block comprises complementary buffers for generatingsaid logic output.
 10. A digital cell according to claim 1, wherein thesense-amplifier block comprises an amplification circuit configured toproduce the valid output signals and further configured to latch thevalid output signals.
 11. A digital cell according to claim 10, whereinthe amplification circuit comprises: a holding circuit configured toproduce and latch the valid output signals when turned on; and afeedback circuit configured to keep the holding circuit on if the outputsignals are valid and if the digital cell is not triggered to switchfrom the evaluate state to the reset state, thereby allowing the holdingcircuit to continue latching the valid output signals for as long as thedigital cell is not triggered to switch from the evaluate state to thereset state.
 12. A digital cell according to claim 11, wherein theholding circuit comprises cross-coupled inverters.
 13. A digital cellaccording to claim 11 wherein the feedback circuit comprises only PMOStransistors.
 14. A digital cell according to claim 11, wherein theamplification circuit comprises an input completeness circuit configuredto turn on upon the sense-amplifier block detecting that either thelogic input or the input signals encode said at least one bit of data ofthe logic input such that all bits of data of the logic input are valid,and wherein said turning on of the input completeness circuit amplifiesthe difference in the output signals of the evaluation block.
 15. Adigital cell according to claim 14, wherein the input completenesscircuit comprises only PMOS transistors.
 16. A digital cell according toclaim 14, wherein said turning on of the input completeness circuitamplifies the difference in the output signals of the evaluation blockby turning on the holding circuit.
 17. A digital cell according to claim1, wherein the evaluation block and sense-amplifier block are configuredsuch that they can be powered by separate power supplies.
 18. A digitalcell according to claim 17, wherein the evaluation and sense-amplifierblocks are powered by separate power supplies and wherein the evaluationblock is configured to receive the valid output signals from thesense-amplifier block and disconnect the output signals from its powersupply.
 19. A digital cell according to claim 17, wherein the evaluationblock and sense-amplifier block arc powered by separate power supplieswhich generate different voltage levels, and are configured such thatbefore all bits of data of the logic input are valid, the evaluationblock can generate the difference in the output signals but thesense-amplifier block is prevented from producing valid output signals.20. A digital cell according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation blockand sense-amplifier block are powered by the same power supply, andwherein the evaluation block is configured to generate the difference inthe output signals only when all bits of data of the logic input arevalid.
 21. A digital cell according to claim 1, wherein the digital cellfurther comprises a reset circuit which can be activated to reset theoutput signals.
 22. A digital cell according to claim 1, wherein thedigital cell is based on Quasi-Delay-Insensitive asynchronous-logic. 23.A pipeline for performing logic operations on logic inputs to producelogic outputs, the pipeline comprising at least one digital cellaccording to claim
 1. 24. A pipeline according to claim 23, wherein thepipeline is based on the Integrated-Latch pipeline structure.